Alis Volat Propiis
by TheSilverHunt3r
Summary: "He flies by his own wings." Whitley Schnee did not appreciate being kidnapped. Along his way back home, he unlocks his Semblance, befriends a faunus Hunter, wears a duster coat, gets a gun, and gains a slight tan, not in that order. Twoshot.
1. I

Summary: "He flies by his own wings." Whitley Schnee did not appreciate being kidnapped. Along his way back home, he unlocks his Semblance, befriends a faunus Hunter, wears a duster coat, gets a gun, and gains a slight tan, not in that order. Twoshot.

Alternative title: The one where a faunus Hunter saw Whitley Schnee and went, "Guess I'm a big brother now."

Location Unknown

Sand.

That's all there was: sand. There wasn't even a variation in color; it was all a consistent golden-orange color.

Whitley had escaped, but that didn't help him much. Now he had to survive in the desert on his own. It was better than being a captive at least.

His fair skin was sun burnt from the previous day. He had rolled down his sleeves, torn though they were, to cover his forearms.

He slept in the shadow of a large sand dune until night came.

He blinked his sticky eyelids open and got to his feet.

He shivered at the cold night air. With the sun gone, so had all of the heat.

A large, round canteen bumped against his side, attached to a rope around his shoulder. He had looped around his neck and carefully poured a few drops into his mouth. He had stolen it-thankfully, it had been full when he did.

He yawned as he craned his neck.  
The sky was clear with the exception of a few wispy clouds.

Whitley found the constellation named Grimm Minor first, then used it to find the East star.

He was still in the northern hemisphere, somewhere on the western side of the world. This meant he had been taken to the continent of Sanus. It was likely he was in the Kingdom of Vacuo due to the dessert.

His best bet was to head east and north. With luck he would be going to Vale. . . or he would be heading further into the Vacuo dessert (to his death). It really depended on his unknown starting point.

XXX

A Few Hours Later

The sun broke past the edge of the world, casting a warm glow. It would soon become a harsh glare.

Whitley Schnee stared out over the open water. He stood on one rock among many, he was one person among millions, both dwarfed by the ocean lapping at his feet.

He looked down into the water. The skin on his nose was peeling off, revealing a layer of irritated pink. His clothes were turning reddish-orange from lying down. His hair was full of sweat and sand.

He had reached the ocean in only a few hours. He was somewhere along the northern part of the continent. He huddled inside a small cave for the day and drank some more water.

XXX

That night, he headed south-east. With every step he wished for the forests of Vale to appear on the horizon. He wished for something green, or even something white like everything in Atlas was.

And something for appear on the horizon. But it was neither of the desired colors, instead it was brown, barely able to be differentiated from the sand.

Whitley made slow progress towards the dot of brown. It was a settlement.  
He could see a fire or two sending smoke into the clear sky. The smoke curled and stretched, seeming to desperately claw at the half-moon far above.

Whitley walked between the tents. They were all well-worn. Some seemed to be a patchwork of various materials.

Most of the people were asleep, except for the few tending fires in open areas.

Whitley headed to the closest one.

A man sat beside a fire fueled by twigs and dead brush. He had a thin, tall frame. His eyes shown a yellowish-green, reflecting the firelight. "I'm Maroon, a Hunter."

Whitley sat down on one of the rocks. "Whitley." He disregarded small talk to continue onto his most pressing concern. "I need to get to Atlas."

Maroon chuckled. Something at the top of his head twitched.

Whitley didn't know how he hadn't noticed that the Hunter was a faunus before. That wasn't a problem for him personally, but that could be a problem for the Hunter due to his Schnee Dust Company's reputation.

Maroon leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "If you want to get to Atlas, you have to find the Kenyte settlement."

Whitley sighed. Of course this was going to be more complicated than just finding someone to fly him out tonight. He really should have never suspected otherwise. "How can I do that?"

Maroon sighed and scratched at the back of his head. "It's complicated and not an exact science." He nonchalantly offered, "I'll go with you." He stood up, revealing the bushy tail previously hidden by shadows.

Whitley couldn't believe someone like this, would be so altruistic. This man was two things he distrusted on sight, a Hunter and a faunus. "Why?"

Maroon opened the flap of his tent. "Well, I can't receive the reward to returning the missing Schnee Heir if I'm not there in person. People wouldn't believe it." He gave a toothy grin over his shoulder, exposing canines longer than a normal human's.

Whitley tensed. He readied himself to run, hand tightening on the canteen strap. His last name would not endear him to any faunus.

Maroon shook his head. "Geez, relax. Come on in and get some sleep kid. We're getting up bright and early tomorrow."

Whitley rolled his eyes. He made no attempt to hide clicking his tongue loudly in aggravation.

Maroon hid his laughter behind a cough. He had found one belligerent child.

XXX

Vacuo

Whitley had been woken up by Maroon. He ate a breakfast of bread and suffered through Maroon talking about nutrition.

Next, was a shower, taken behind the tent.

Whitley washed his face with the water from the bucket first and then took a 'shower' as Maroon had called. Apparently, in the dessert of Vacuo, a shower was dumping a bucket of water on one's head.

Whitley used the towel he'd been given to dry himself off as much as possible. It wasn't much help; his hair still dripped liberally. He sighed.

"Done?" Maroon asked.

"Yeah."

"Good," Maroon chirped in a high-pitched voice. "We're going to go get supplies."

The market for the settlement was small.

While Maroon bought food and water, Whitley wandered a bit away. There weren't any crowds of shoppers here that could separate or hide them from each other.

Whitley looked over a stall's wares. There was mostly coats and shirts. He jumped slightly as he hadn't noticed Maroon beside him, watching him.

"You want this one?" Maroon ran his fingers along a tan duster coat. It was sturdy. It was similar to Maroon's own reddish-brown coat. "It'd be useful for traveling during the night."

"I don't have any lien," Whitley felt obligated to admit.

"How much is this?" Maroon haggled over the price and then paid the seller. He ignored Whitley's protests and tossed the coat to the boy. "Take the coat. You'll repay me for my travel expenses, right?"

Whitley barely managed to catch the coat, fingers slipping on the material. "Yes," he irritably said.

"It's all good then." Maroon shrugged. "I don't care about a few lien here and there. That's not what's going to make me broke."

Whitley studied Maroon's expression then nodded. He draped the coat over his arm. It would make the cold nights easier to deal with.

Maroon started walking away, Whitley followed. "How old are you, kid?"

"Fifteen. Why?"

"Do you feel you could handle a dust gun?" Maroon asked. He slowed his pace down to look Whitley in the eye.

Whitley took that as a challenge. "Yes," he staunchly replied, even though he knew he would be receiving a long, rambling lecture on the basics later.

Maroon ruffled Whitley's hair. His hand was immediately slapped away. "Good. We're going to have to go through a Grimm infested area or two. Better to go into there armed than unarmed."

Maroon led Whitley to the only place that wasn't a tent. The place was sturdy, built of stone. The steps led down into the cold darkness.

Candles with dust wicks gave the only light. They did a good enough job.

"One of your guns have a problem? Or did you lose one?" The lady behind the counter asked. The counter was made of glass cast from the local sand, see-through but tinted an orange color. Behind the glass was a display of guns. There was range of types, from a shotgun to a pistol.

Maroon jerked his thumb towards Whitley. "Fortunately, no. I need something that would work for the kid. Nothing too big."

"Ah. Handgun then?" The lady asked.

Maroon nodded. "That'd be best. Any suggestions?"

The lady eyed Whitley with a critical look.

Whitley couldn't help but straighten his back in response.

The lady harrumphed to herself. She pulled out an old revolver and holster from the counter. She listed the lien price in a firm tone-she would not be bartered into accepting a lower number.

Maroon picked it up. He turned around in his hands. He checked that the safety was on before he held it out to Whitley by the barrel.

Whitley wrapped his fingers around the leather grip. His hand was a bit small; he would grow into it.

Maroon nodded. "I'll take it." He pulled out the lien previously requested by the lady, placing it on the counter. He helped Whitley attach the holster to his belt and slot the revolver in.

XXX

They rested for a few hours and then started off in the afternoon.

Whitley trailed Maroon by several yards. It was a struggle but he forced himself to keep up with the athletic hunter.

"Are you sure?" Maroon teasingly questioned. "I could always carry you."

Whitley spat out something impolite in return.

Maroon turned his head up to the sky and laughed. He laughed so hard and long that Whitley got close and tried to punch him. He easily dodged the sloppy attempt at a hit and started lecturing Whitley about fist fighting.

Whitley groaned.

The harsh winds had shaped the area they were traveling through into large sand dunes over the years. Every step on a dune sunk into the soft ground and caused sand to cover the top of their feet.

They stopped to rest in the early morning. They ate jerky and took a few sips of their water.

The direction of the breeze changed.

"F*ck. Grimm," Maroon warned. He could smell their acrid stench on the harsh sandy gust of wind that hit them. He had wanted the real combat experience to come later for Whitley, but sometimes there was no choice.

Maroon had the time to pull out one pistol, but that was all he had. He shot one Grimm and was tackled to the ground by another one of the pack. His Semblance activated and a reddish glow surrounded him. He held back the snapping jaws with his right hand as his left searched for his dropped pistol. The claws of the Grimm slashed at his shirt, but didn't make it past his skin.

A lizard Grimm prowled around Whitley. Same as the other members of it's species, it had black scales and a red underbelly.

Whitley's arms couldn't stay still. He was using both hands to hold onto his revolver. He shot once and missed. The Grimm lunged at him. He jumped to the side, feeling his shoulder slam against the sand.

Maroon shot the Grimm holding him down through the throat. He pulled out his second pistol and made quick work of the rest of the pack.

"Your aim sucks," Maroon nonchalantly commented. "But that makes sense." He put away one of his pistols. Now that he knew Grimm were in the area, he would be keeping one out just in case. "So, want me to unlock your semblance next time we stop?"

Whitley got up from the sand. He picked up his fallen revolver. "Why do you want me to?"

Maroon looked meaningfully at the Grimm corpses slowly turning to ash. "It'd make you less likely to die."

XXX

It was hard for Whitley to take this seriously.

Maroon had a hand on Whitley's shoulder. He was mumbling something, alternating between talking and chewing on his mouthful of jerky.

Whitley jerked back at the sudden rush of energy flooding his body. He stared at his hands. This was what having your Aura unlocked was like?

"Your Aura isn't bad for a newbie. I'll teach you how to control and grow it as we go along." Maroon let go of Whitley's shoulder and dropped onto his dusty mat. "But first, I'm sleeping."

XXX

Two Days Later

Maroon was taking apart and cleaning his pistols. he had to make sure sand hadn't gotten into them and messed up the inner workings.

Whitley stared at a place a few inches above his palm. He was frustrated. He hadn't even gotten the smallest glyph yet.

And of course it would be the Schnee Family Semblance he got. He wouldn't get his father's.

The idea of having his father's Semblance terrified him. It would be another check mark on the list of things that made them similar.

Whitley quickly veered his thoughts away from that topic. He need a distraction. "Hey, Maroon, what's your Semblance?"

"Barrier. I usually use it on my skin, but I can also place one around myself or other people. It's a rather tough shield to break through."

XXX

Three Days Later

Maroon showed Whitley how to catch lizards in the caves of the small mountain they passed. He cut off their heads and claws. He gently pulled out the spine and intestines. He buried the leftovers in the sand. He got out a bottle of mixed spices and sprinkled some on the meat.

Whitley watched Maroon cook and tried to cast glyphs. He remembered bits and pieces of Winter's advice to Weiss and even rarer, Willow's advice to Winter.

They had refilled their canteens from a spring Maroon had vouched for being clean.

With the lizards cooking in the fire, Maroon turned to inventory. Due to the impending fights, he decided to make some bullets.

He pulled out metal casings and some dust crystals. He passed a mortar and pestle to Whitley.

Whitley raised an eyebrow but slowly started to grind a crystal into powder.

Maroon watched the agonizingly slow process. "Are you sure there's not some Schnee gene you're missing out on? Did your sisters get it and not you?"

Whitley's lips tightened. He angrily mashed the pestle down. "Well, I don't know about me, but I'm pretty sure you have that coyote gene for eating lizards. It's the only explanation." He smirked slightly, looking over at the Hunter. "Plus, is this really the time to be messing with me? I currently have the world's most deadly explosives at hand. "

Maroon held his hands up, palms out, a gesture of surrender. "Good point."

A half-hour later, the lizards were done.

Maroon tried bit to laugh at Whitley's expression of disbelief. "Good, yeah?"

Whitley took another bite. He stared at the Hunter. "How did you make lizard taste edible?"

"Family secret."

XXX

Whitley had his hands out in front of him.

The lizard Grimm smacked into a large, white glyph with a snowflake insignia. It snarled and prowled around the side.

Whitley couldn't help but smile, despite the danger.

His Semblance was glyphs.

He was a Schnee.

Whitley was startled out of his thoughts by loud clicking sounds.

Three Death Stalkers were traveling toward them, drawn by the noise. The Grimm were giant scorpions, with white bony exoskeletons.

Maroon hit one and drew away two of them.

The Hunter made quick work of one Death Stalker. He stood on the head of one and jumped off when the second one tried to stab him with his stinger. The stinger went through the exoskeleton of the first Death Stalker, killing it.

The third Death Stalker turned towards Whitley, rightfully seeing him as the weaker enemy.

Whitley clenched his teeth. He was a Schnee, d*mn it! He wouldn't let himself be taken out without a fight. He wouldn't run-his pride wouldn't allow it.

He dug his feet in slightly. In the back of his mind, he realized that he was probably going to be the most stupid thing he ever did.

He looked the Death Stalker in the eyes and blocked the scorpion tail with a glyph. He thrust his revolver forward, pressing it against an eye of the Grimm and pulled the trigger.

The Grimm let out a set of hisses and clicks before smoking away into ash.

There was a buzz of adrenaline and pride in Whitley's chest. He had never felt that way before.

Whitley couldn't help the grin spreading across his face.

Maroon laughed. "Nice, Whit." He slapped the boy on the shoulder.

"Wait. . . Whit?" Whitley asked, grimacing.

"You'be been promoted. Your nickname is Whit now," Maroon informed.

"What! But-"

"Deal with it." Maroon slung an arm around Whitley's shoulder's, grinning. "I don't care a whit."

"Did you just make a pun?"

XXX

There was something about the scene that made Whitley oddly content. He was grinding more dust crystals into powder since they had used so many bullets in their last fight with Grimm, meanwhile he was trying to form small glyphs to gain a better control over his Semblance.

He listened to Maroon hum off key before launching into a local song with a quick tempo. He bit his knuckle to keep himself from laughing at the Hunter.

Whitley almost wondered why he would want to go back to the manor.

XXX

Two Days Later

They had reached the Kenyte Settlement. They split up, Whitley would get supplies and Maroon would find transportation to Atlas.

"You want to get to Atlas?" The smuggler asked. His face was covered by a long scarf and a pair of goggles.

"Yeah," Maroon drawled.

The smuggler crossed his arms. "I have to make a pit shop in the Kingdom of Vale first, but I can get you there for the right price."

Maroon leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "I'm a Hunter. I'll protect your cargo while I'm on board. Think you can cut me a discount?"

"And I'm not an idiot." The smuggler sighed. "Sure. You have yourself a deal."

XXX

Whitley only had time to restock on supplies before he was found.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, tightly.

Whitley turned his head, expecting to see Maroon.

It was a faunus, but it wasn't Maroon. It was a White Fang member.

Whitley cursed under his breath and pulled away. He ran into the crowd outside of the vendor's tent.

Kenyte Settlement was Vacuo's largest city, in so far as it could be called a city due to being made up of a nomadic people.

Whitley chose to hide in the small space between two vendors. He squeezed himself in, trying not to break the fabric he was pressing himself against. His heart was pounding in his ears. The idea of what White Fang members would do to him if given the chance had become a valid nightmare after his kidnapping.

A hand dragged him out by his arm.

Whitley would have landed on his face if not for Maroon shoving him up right.

"See someone you didn't like?" Maroon asked.

"White Fang," was all Whitley could say.

Maroon's eyes hardened. He jerked his head to the right upon smelling wet dog.

The crowd started to scatter at seeing a dog faunus with a White Fang mask draw a sword. "Hand him over, Maroon," the dog faunus ordered. He was flanked by two other White Fang members, a bull faunus and a crow faunus.

"No," Maroon blandly said.

"Maroon, don't tell me you really did turn tra-" The rest of the dog faunus's sentence was lost as Maroon tackled him to the ground.

Whitley wasn't good enough to fight one-on-one against adults with aura yet. He closed his eyes and concentrated on what he needed to do. His Semblance responded. A summoning circle formed at his feet and out of it rose a lizard Grimm. The Grimm was now white.

Maroon shot the bull faunus in the face. He dodged a slash from the dog faunus.

Whitley's summon bounded towards the crow faunus. The lizard hissed as it jumped onto the unlucky White Fang member.

Maroon punched the dog faunus in the stomach and started backing away to where Whitley stood.

Whitley whistled to get the Hunter's attention. He pulled out a dust crystal and threw it towards the White Fang.

Maroon smiled. He pulled out his pistol and fired. He activated his Semblance in front of himself and Whitley, shielding them from harm.

The dust crystal exploded in a fiery red flash.

"Let's go, now." Maroon grabbed the back of Whitley's collar.

XXX

The cargo plane took off, with Whitley and Maroon safety ensconced inside.

A thought kept niggling in Whitley's mind. "How did they know you?"

Maroon gave a pained smile. "I'm a pretty famous Hunter around here."

Whitley frowned. He wanted to know for sure. But then. . .did the answer really matter? The Hunter had refused to give him up.

XXX

Vale

One Day Later

While the smuggler went off to meet with someone, Maroon and Whitley decided to stretch their legs.

They had a few minutes of peace before Grimm entered the clearing.

Several Taijitu Grimm coiled around each other and the trees. They were gigantic snakes with two heads, one white and one black; aside from their size, they were also notorious for squeezing humans to a painful, inescapable death.

Maroon let out a heavy sigh. "Whit, you are the worst Grimm magnet I've ever known."

A/N

This isn't a redemption story, it's more of a character reveal story?

Maroon is Whitley's older brother. Fight me. I'll knock someone out for this OC.

-Silver


	2. II

Summary: "He flies by his own wings." Whitley Schnee did not appreciate being kidnapped. Along his way back home, he unlocks his Semblance, befriends a faunus Hunter, wears a duster coat, gets a gun, and gains a slight tan, not in that order. Twoshot.

Three Days Later

The plane was flying over the ocean to Atlas.

Whitley practiced his glyphs. For some reason, glyphs were the things he had trouble and summoning was fairly easy. It was the opposite of what he knew about the levels of difficulty when it came to the Schnee Semblance. But then, those were all based off of Weiss and Winter. . . .

Whitley didn't give a thought to his appearance. It was unusual consider how dusty, sweaty, and sandy he was. To him, it didn't matter whether strangers saw him like this.

Meanwhile, Maroon did give a thought to his. He tied a red handkerchief around his head as a bandana. He would kept his tail hidden underneath his duster coat. Upon first glance, most Atlesians wouldn't notice he was a faunus.

XXX

Two Days Later

Atlas

Maroon furiously rubbed his hands together. He blew on them, trying to get some feeling back into his fingers. "It's so cold here, way more than Vacuo at night. Why did I ever agree to come?"

Whitley rolled his eyes. "I dealt with the blistering heat back in Vacuo without complaining, now it's your turn."

"I need hot chocolate. Or even better, coffee."

"Afraid that's not going to happen. None of the street sellers would be out this early in the morning."

Maroon groaned.

XXX

There were several side doors to the Schnee Manor. Whitley knew all of the ways in and out. There was no way they were going in the front door. He needed to prepare before he faced father.

Klein opened the door.

Whitley bypassed the usual greetings and paraphrased. "Hello, Klein. This is Maroon, the Hunter who found me."

"Your sister and her friends are in the West Wing of the Manor," Klein informed Whitley. He turned to Maroon. "Hello, sir. Is there anything I can do for you?" He tamped down his emotions at the pleasant surprise of the Hunter being a faunus. He was glad to see that Whitley really hadn't taken after his father.

'Weiss is home?' Whitley tamped down on his shock. Father would likely be in a bad mood then.

Maroon replied in a hopeful tone, "Coffee would be nice." He almost collapsed out of relief when the butler-Klein-nodded.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Whitley said. "I'll have your payment sorted out after."

"Sounds good to me." Maroon eyed the butler after Whitley left. "So. . . coffee?"

XXX

Maroon added milk and no sugar to his coffee. He stirred it in carefully. He savored a few sips before he started talking. "I'm a Hunter from Vacuo. Whit found me there."

"Whit?" Klein questioned. His tone was unreadable.

"My nickname for him. No offence meant of course."

Klein smiled. "It's perfectly fine. I am glad someone has taken a liking to Mr. Whitley. He has very few people in his corner."

An awkward silence fell for a few seconds, as Maroon pondered a question. Eventually, it came out. "Is there a reason his Aura was never unlocked?"

Klein sighed. He sat down beside the Hunter. "Mr. Schnee refused to let Mr. Whitley unlock his after Miss Winter, the oldest of his children, left to join the Atlesian Military. He was far too late to stop Miss Weiss, however."

"Ah."

A flash of white passed by the kitchen entrance.

Maroon sighed and put down his cup. "That's my cue. Thank you for the coffee-it was delicious."

XXX

"Is Weiss inside?" Whitley asked. He already had his hand on the doorknob.

"Yes?" Yang replied. "Who are you?"

"Whitley Schnee," the boy curtly answered before he entered the room.

Maroon leaned against the wall, looking at the two huntresses. "Belladonna, how are you?" He asked.

"Maroon." Blake sounded like she had tasted something sour. She was tense.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the joke.

Blake glared at both of them. "Why are you here?" She asked Maroon.

Inside the room, things were slightly more civil.

"Where have you been? You look different?" Weiss was on edge. She had not had the best relationship with her brother in the past few years. And the last they had seen of each other was the night Weiss ran away.

"Being kidnapped does that to you," Whitley dryly replied.

"Kidnapped?" Ruby asked. The eyes of the Huntress with red cloak widened. "We were told you were on a trip."

Whitley shook his head. "Publicly, that was probably what happened. But in truth, I was kidnapped. I escaped and have been traveling through the Kingdoms of Vacuo and Vale for the past. . . three weeks."

Ruby snapped her fingers. "That explains why it looks like you got stepped on an Ursa!" She wilted at the look from her teammate, "Uhh, sorry. You look. . . fine?"

Whitley ignored those comments. "Who are you?" He gestured towards Oscar.

"Oscar Pines. I'm a hunter-in-training." He almost cringed as Whitley's look turned calculating.

"Sure," Whitley blandly agreed. He didn't buy it.

Weiss interrupted the stare down that was going on. "Whitley, did you hear. . ." She was biting her lip.

"Hear what?" Whitley asked, suspicious.

Weiss announced, somewhat anti-climatically, "Father is dead."

Whitley sat down to keep himself from falling over at the unexpected news. He leaned forward in anticipation. "How?"

"A group of. . . criminals did it," Weiss vaguely said. She exchanged a look with Ruby and Oscar.

"White Fang?"

Weiss shook her head, "No. Someone else."

Before Whitley could interrogate Weiss further, a ruckus was heard outside in the hallway.

Ruby was the first to the door. She slammed it open without a care for the extravagant wood. "What's going on?"

"He's White Fang. He's here to finish the job," Blake accused. Gambol Shroud was in gun mode, aimed at the other faunus.

"Belladonna, you should be the last person throwing around accusations." Maroon had a gun leveled at Blake. "I left, just like you did."

"It's fine." Whitley shrugged. "I already knew about his former affiliation when I brought him here with him."

All of the Hunters looked at Whitley with surprise. Weiss most of all.

In Maroon's shock, he couldn't help his own quick glance towards Whitley's face. What was the kid thinking? When did he find out? Maroon put his pistol away. He smeared a confident smile back onto his face. "Good enough for you, Belladonna?"

Blake sheathed her weapons, begrudgingly. "Stop calling me Belladonna, like you're not one too," she tossed over her shoulder as she walked away. She needed time to work through how she felt about this.

There was an awkward silence broken by Whitley's question, "So, that's the R and B of RWBY. Who's your last teammate?"

The Y of RWBY seized onto the chance to keep everyone from dwelling on what had just happened. Yang grinned. "That'd be me, Ice Prince." She waved.

"Ice Prince?" Whitley and Weiss asked in unison.

"Oh, I get it!" Ruby exclaimed. "Weiss is Ice Queen and you're her little brother."

"Exactly, little sis."

Maroon smirked. He added his two cents. "It fits. But I personally like Whit better."

Whitley and Weiss exchanged a look, commiserating over their friends (and said friends unamusing nicknaming habits).

XXX

A Few Hours Later

The office was small. The desk was cluttered, full of various data on the SDC mines. Whitley went about straightening the mess that had occurred while he was gone. "Mind introducing yourself in full now?"

"Maroon Belladonna, formerly White Fang and currently Hunter. Second cousin of Blake Belladonna." Maroon cocked his head. "How long did you know?"

"Since Kenyte."

Maroon sighed, deeply. "I knew that explanation was flimsy."

Whitley snorted. 'You think?'

Silence fell as Maroon watched Whitley work through the stacks of papers and folders.

Whitley finally sorted through everything on his desk and sat down. "What do you think about bodyguard jobs?"

Maroon raised his eyebrows. "One person is a lot easier than a caravan? What'd you have in mind?"

"Offering you a job. I'm going to inherit the SDC in three years. Lots of people will want me dead before and after I become President." Whitley handed over a few papers and a pen.

Maroon skimmed over the contract. "Cross out the no nicknames clause and I'll do it."

XXX

Lunch was a short and noisy affair for Whitley.

Ruby, Maroon, and Yang were arguing about something. Blake was eating quietly. Oscar was off to the side.

Weiss and Whitley were having a discussion that was surprisingly mild. Of course, general likes and dislikes were of a rather inoffensive nature.

"I prefer red or tan," Whitley said.

"Really?" Weiss took a bite of her salad. "I thought you liked blue the most?"

Whitley nodded. "You're not wrong. I used to like ice blue, like you did."

"Okay. What about books?"

"I like Politics in Our Day by Headmaster Ozpin."

At the mention of Ozpin, Weiss glanced at Oscar. "Yeah. . ."

"Weiss?"

Weiss forced a smile onto her face. "Sorry, I'm just worried about my friends who aren't here. They were supposed to have arrived this morning."

Whitley nodded. He didn't mention that he could tell his sister was both telling the truth. . . and lying.

XXX

A Few Hours Later

Whitley knocked on the door of his sister's bedroom. "Weiss, are you in the middle of something?" He asked.

"Who's this?" Nora asked. She barely kept herself from glomping the boy.

"Whitley Schnee. Weiss is my older sister." He kept his hands behind his back.

"Uh, nice to meet you, Mr. Schnee," Jaune said.

Ren greeted the boy with a nod.

Whitley waved a hand. "No need for formality-you can just refer to me as Whitley. Anyways, I came to get you all for dinner."

Nora grinned. Hearts practically appeared in her eyes. "Dinner?"

"Yes. Dinner," Whitley dryly responded.

XXX

"Who's the new kid?" A man's voice asked. He wore a tattered black cape.

"Weiss's little bro, Ice Prince," Yang informed.

Whitley sighed. He looked over the Hunter that somehow had appeared in the manor garden without any sign.

"Qrow is our uncle," Ruby said.

"Ah, that'd make you Winter's little brother, too, yeah?" Qrow asked.

"Yes."

Qrow chuckled to himself. "Do tell Ice Queen hi for me." He wasn't sticking around for long-he had things he needed to take care of.

XXX

The next day, Winter showed up at the manor. She had been granted leave for a few days due to the death of a family member.

"Winter!"

"Sister," Whitley greeted, far more coldly than Weiss.

"Weiss, Whitley, how are you?" Winter asked.

While Weiss started babbling about something, Whitley had a simple reply, "Fine. Real showers are nice."

The comment caught Winter's attention. "What?"

Whitley raised his eyebrows. "Did you not hear that I'd been kidnapped either?"

"Father had said you were on a business trip."

Whitley gave a sardonic smile. "Well, he lied. Anyways, we have a few things to discuss. Shall we head to one of the conference rooms?"

"What do we have to discuss?" Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"The company, the public announcement of father's death," Whitley rattled off. He paused. "Additionally, our personal goals. Oh, and Qrow Branwen told me to say hello to you."

"When did you meet him?" Winter's voice dripped with distate.

Weiss tilted her head. "Qrow was here yesterday."

"He was what?"

"Here. Along with all of Weiss's other Hunter friends," Whitley supplied.

Winter rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was expecting many jokes about the manor and her family next time she met Qrow. She was not looking forward to it.

XXX

One Year Later

The Atlesian Embargo ended.

XXX

Willow Schnee had grown much more lively with her husband gone. Her drinking habits had changed, with her drinking only in the evening. She remembered her children when they visited her in the garden and was persuaded to start attending therapy.

XXX

It was an Atlesian party, held by the elite to impress the other elite.

It was the first party Whitley attended since the death of his party. He had grown several inches since they had last seen him.

At his side was Maroon, dressed in a brown suit that complimented him well. He had both insisted on attending the party and refused to leave his weapons at the manor. He was a Hunter regardless of where he was.

The men grumbled about new blood, about rich brats, about faunus growing bolder due to what happened in Haven. The women whispered about how the bodyguard had a certain charisma to him.

XXX

Weiss was officially leading the company until Whitley was of age. She usually handled matters abroad. She traveled to represent a new face to the people of Remnant and to make deals with other businesses. She helped improve business policies for faunus rights and faunus work issues as much as possible.

Whitley stayed in Atlas most of the time, taking care of finances and other internal matters. He never directly dealt with the SDC board, but indirectly deal with their policies. He was still not President yet he had already started making plans.

Through Winter, Ironwood was their main contact and supporter in the Atlesian Military. Although, Winter herself was quickly growing in rank-it would not be long before she was of equal rank to her superior.

XXX

It was only once they were in the study did Whitley ask, "Why are you here?"

"The others were mad at Ozpin and still are. But you, you weren't. I wanted to asked why."

Whitley sighed. "From what you've told me about his actions, Ozpin isn't really to blame for any of this. He died and his wife screwed everyone over. He was suckered into a bad deal by a powerful being. He was persuaded into ruling. His wife made choices he didn't agree with so he tried to leave. His wife killed him and continues to keep screwing him over. The ones to blame are Salem-who was manipulating him and is trying to destroy humanity-and the god of darkness for straight up killing everyone humanity's first time around." He paused, leaning forward. "As for the lying and not wanting to spill his traumatic tale. Well. . . people's lives are their own. No deserves to know your darkest secrets."

Oscar opened his mouth to argue. He was stopped by Whitley's glare.

"Survivor's guilt and depression are terrible things, Oscar. If you have Ozpin in your head, I suggest reading up on them." Whitley's tone was cutting and firm. He would not back down on his position.

They both were silent for a few minutes.

Oscar chewed thoughtfully on a cookie. He swallowed it and found the courage to admit, "We merged fully, three weeks ago."

"And how has that been going?"

"The nightmares suck," Oscar admitted with an uncharacteristic bitterness. They had been bad when Ozpin had first shown up, but the past three weeks had been horrendous. His eyes had dark bags under them for a reason.

Whitley shrugged, helpless. "Nothing I can do about that, I'm afraid. But if you ever need some to knock some sense into your head, feel free to come to me."

"I'll keep your offer in mind." Oscar sighed. He confessed the second part of what was going on, "I haven't told anyone else."

"They don't know?"

"No," Oscar immediately shot down. "And I'd prefer they never did."

Whitley nodded. "Understandable."

"I think Ruby would still see me as Oscar. She promised she would. The rest. . . I don't know. I think they would see me as Ozpin."

Whitley sensed his. . . conversation partner-friend?-was in need of a distraction. "Do you want to talk about something else?"

Oscar snorted. "Yes, please."

XXX

One Year Later

Whitley was sitting in the garden. He was reading over the SDC's quarterly report. It was dry and unfortunately long.

The boom and crack of a gunshot was heard.

The pages fluttered onto the table. Some slipped off onto the grass. The teacup dropped to the ground. The coffee spilled out and some of the porcelain broke off at the lip of the cup.

Whitley had dropped everything and encased himself in glyphs. They all had a large snowflake symbol, showing that they of the physical type. In the same way they could be used as platforms, they could be used as a barrier. Maroon had drilled this use of the Schnee Semblance into Whitley's head once the Hunter had found out how this type of glyph worked.

The round fell to the ground, now harmless.

The sniper was on the garden wall. Three attackers slipped over the wall. All of them were dressed in whites and grays to blend in with the Atlas snow.

Maroon was already moving. He pulled out his pistols and took on the attackers approaching them. He fired off several shots. He one man in the head and a woman in the shoulder.

A giant white glyph appeared under Whitley's feet. A King Taijitu slithered out. Its red eyes had been turned blue. Whitley sat atop one of his summon's heads.

The King Taijitu, was massive, even coiled up.

Whitley held onto the mask of the snake as it lunged forward.

The snake ate up the distance to the garden wall at an incredible rate, smashing through any obstacles-mostly unlucky shrubbery-with ease.

The sniper looked up from his scope. He saw the open maw of the giant Grimm, the long canine teeth, and the bony white mask.

The King Taijitu swallowed the sniper alive.

XXX

A Few Months Later

Oscar was greeted at the door of the Schnee Manor by Whitley, who had been waiting for him.

Whitley had a large grin on his face. "Congratulations on your new found fame."

Oscar groaned. "You heard about that?"

"Of course." Whitley seemed to take no small amount of amusement at his friend's reaction. "Maybe get a better moniker?"

"I tried."

"And failed?"

"Hard."

XXX

Weiss only had three years and a temporary position. She started the transition in the Schnee Dust Company. She took the first step.

Whitley had several decades and would ensure he would retire, not be fired by the board. He was a Schnee. He would remove the stains from the Schnee family name. He would finish the long process Weiss started, or he was not a Schnee.

"Hello, gentlemen and ladies of the board. I am Whitley Schnee, the Heir of the Schnee Family and the new President of the Schnee Dust Company. I decided to waste no time on pleasantries and begin with my proposals for business policy changes. These include. . ."

The board noticed the bodyguard standing in the corner that had come in with the President. It was a faunus Hunter. His presence declared that this was no small change in leadership policies. This was not a return to the days of Jacques Schnee. Same as Weiss and Winter, Whitley was not their father. He was his own person, and he would burn his mark into the world.

A/N

Oscar and Whitley being best friends is another headcanon I'll fight for.

This story is completely not plotted and made up of random spur of the moment ideas. It was rather fun to write. There were some random funny bits that I never came up with until I actually wrote the scene.

-Silver


End file.
